Attention All Video Makers: Find Video Collaborators on SpidVid

If you’re looking for people to collaborate with on a video project, then do yourself a favor and check out Spidvid.

Spidvid is a website created by Jeremy Campbell with the goal of developing a thriving community of videomakers who can work together on projects. The site is several years old and has grown quite a bit since it first came online.

Jeremy Campbell

Spidvid has recently undergone quite a few changes to accommodate all the growth. Jeremy was kind enough to do a brief interview with me in order to inform Video Production Tipsreaders of the many ways in which Spidvid can help you get your video projects DONE!

1. What is Spidvid and how does it help video makers?

Spidvid helps filmmakers by providing an outlet to post projects and recruit high quality, creative talent to their teams. Individuals such as actors, editors and VFX artists can bid on projects which match their skill sets and interest them, and can be compensated whichever way they prefer. Projects are then collaborated on, managed, and completed. We have just recently launched “Spidvid Payments” where our members can pay, and be paid safely and securely for the projects they are part of.

The purpose of Spidvid is to connect filmmakers with needed creative talent to join their teams, some people call it matchmaking for the film industry. The growth has been impressive, our membership and completed projects have doubled each year since launching in 2010.

2. Where did you come up with the name Spidvid?

Spidvid’s name took awhile to come up with. Our original name was “Collab Guru” which totally sucks, and it never actually saw the light of day. A few years ago the word “collaboration” was really emerging as a powerhouse concept so I wanted to play off that and couple it with guru which means expert individuals, so collaboration between experts. But there was no connection to video or film, it was hard to say, wasn’t memorable, and was essentially boring so that name didn’t stick around long.

Myself and others started throwing out funky names that had “video,” “vid,” and “film,” in them and the one I liked the best was “Splenvid” which plays off of splendid. But then I was worried people would have trouble spelling it and saying it. I wanted something similar and Spidvid came to me while I was at a movie theater of all places, perhaps it was a sign. It worked on all levels, and the .com domain name was available from GoDaddy so I jumped on it, and the rest is history.

There have been hundreds of Spidvid projects which have been successfully launched and completed.

3. How the Spidvid process works:

I. A video creator or filmmaker posts a Spidvid project outlining the details such as:

The project’s metadata including title, storyline, where in the development process the project is currently at (i.e. in post production,) resources and skills needed, and the compensation offered for each role on the team. Then the bidding process opens and closes. If there are crowdfunding links from Kickstarter or Indiegogo, these can be shared on the project page too to attract more attention from potential financial donators.

II. The project leader invites talent to bid on their project by searching for who they need, and trade messages with individuals who are of interest. This is sort of like the dating zone where individuals feel each other out and decide if it makes sense to collaborate or not.

III. Individuals are added to the team once agreements have been made.

IV. Projects are managed, media files can be shared, group conversations can be done, and once each individual has executed what is needed, the video or film is completed and the asset can be uploaded for distribution to our exclusive distribution partner, UnleashVideo.com. Or, the video can be shared externally on YouTube, Vimeo, Funny Or Die, film festivals, or wherever the video or film’s target audience hangs out and views content.

We plan on soon adding several new project management tools including collaborative:

To-do do lists

Milestone and goal tracking

Budgeting

Time tracking

And whatever else makes sense to build so our members can connect and manage their video and film projects from start to finish as effectively and efficiently as possible.

4. Describe this new growth phase with being able to exchange money thru the site. How will this enhance/change Spidvid?

We just recently launched “Spidvid Payments” which allows our members to pay each other safely and securely. We have had some financial transaction blunders in the past between members on external payment sites, so by providing an internal means to act as the middleman between our members everyone is protected. And members can build up their integrity on Spidvid by showing they have paid or earned money on our site, which validates them as legit partners to work with. We launched with PayPal as our payment processor and can add new services over time if our members prefer additional options.

We still have the option of posting Spidvid projects with no budget, so we aren’t turning our back on the bootstrapping filmmakers who want to leverage our site but can’t afford to pay talent, at least not right away.

5. What are the benefits for people to join?

The benefits of Spidvid are:

Individuals build up their portfolios

better manage their projects and teams

all in the cloud

get to work with talent they wouldn’t have otherwise

discover new opportunities locally/nationally/internationally

build up their contact list of industry professionals

earn money

Have fun being part of an emerging and open filmmaking ecosystem

6. What growth path is planned for Spidvid? Where do you hope to be in 5 years or so?

We are actively building up a dream team of advisors and mentors to help guide our future efforts, both on the product and member side. Every great company became great because of talented people, so the more “A players” we can attract, the more successful Spidvid will be.

Our mission is to build a framework that plays an integral role within the new-aged filmmaking ecosystem. Our ever evolving product will continue to address the needs and solve the core problems of our members, and act as a glue for the industry.
In 5 years I see feature film projects coming out of Spidvid which make millions of dollars at the box office, win major film festival awards, and the big Hollywood studio’s are constantly tapping into our network for hiring talent and to successfully manage their projects. Modest goals, I know. I come from humble beginnings. 🙂

I appreciate the opportunity to talk to your audience about filmmaking and Spidvid, two things I’m very passionate about. Thanks Lorraine, this was fun.